Albany defendants face murder charges

Two defendants in an Albany kidnapping case are now facing murder charges, court officials confirmed Monday.

Jason Benn and Ricky Thornton were indicted Monday on second-degree murder counts, accused of taking part in the killing of Steven Jackson June 13 in Albany, according to the indictment. They face second-degree murder counts, along with first-degree kidnapping and burglary counts.

The two are accused of targeting Jackson as part of a conspiracy to find a large stash of marijuana and marijuana proceeds.

They then killed Jackson and disposed of his body in the days after the killing by burying it in an undisclosed location.

Benn and Thornton were part of a group indicted in Jackson’s kidnapping in January.

Two alleged co-conspirators, Gino “G” Uzzell and Anthony “Inf” Davis, pleaded guilty to lesser crimes earlier.

Davis pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping in exchange for a 10-year sentence, and Uzzell pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy, in exchange for a 7- to 21-year sentence.

Both men were also to cooperate.

The investigation has been ongoing, and sources have said it expanded to include investigating the group in the disappearances of Schenectady resident Donald Green and Rensselaer County woman Ashley Carroll.

Green was 50 when he disappeared Feb. 26, 2010, when he left an Albany bar. Police have long since believed Green’s disappearance was suspicious. Monday’s new indictment in the Jackson case, however, made no reference to Green or Carroll. Carroll, 24, disappeared in Albany on May 6, 2010, after a falling-out with her boyfriend.

Jackson is believed to have been killed June 13, 2010, at 40 Parkwood St., in Albany.

From Feb. 1 to June 16, the group was accused of working together to track Jackson in the months leading up to his death, according to the indictment.

Uzzell worked to alert Thornton and Davis on marijuana deliveries and proceeds deliveries to Jackson.

Uzzell, Thornton and Davis then coordinated surveillance of Jackson to find where he stored the marijuana and proceeds, including Jackson’s home at Stoneridge Court in Guilderland and the apartment used to store them at 40 Parkwood St. in Albany.

Benn worked with the group to help abduct Jackson.

The group also used a tracking device, purchased by Thornton in February 2010. Uzzell, in April, then placed that device on a rental car used by Jackson, putting it there at Thornton’s request.

Then, just after 1 p.m. on June 13, 2010, Thornton, Davis, Benn and another man abducted Jackson. By 4:30 p.m., Benn used Jackson’s credit card at the Price Chopper on Central Avenue in Albany, according to the indictment.

Thornton and Benn also face one count of tampering with physical evidence, accused of disposing of Jackson’s body between June 14 and June 16, 2010.

The charges in Jackson’s abduction and killing come as the result of a six-month investigation involving the Albany and Guilderland police departments and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.